Even before I purchased my Playstation 3 back in February, I had played the cult-classic Playstation Network exclusive “PAIN” – a laugh-filled exercise in destruction and fictional character abuse. The premise of the game involves taking a giant sling-shot type device and flinging yourself at various targets, depending on the mode of game play you choose.

PAIN has several characters for you to choose from: a ninja, Santa Claus, a guy in a cow suit, a scantily-clad girl in a Santa hat, a cheerleader, a pirate, a nurse, and more to come in the next few weeks.

There are several modes of play, including bowling, (whose final frames have you flinging yourself at french mimes [that talk for some reason?] instead of pins), HORSE, Spank the Monkey, and a bomb mode. The trophy room has tons of goals for you to go after, providing you with hours of enjoyment.

PAIN wouldn’t be what it is without the characters and their personalities – the things they say or yell as you fling them through the air at buildings, vehicles, signs, mimes, and old ladies are just priceless.

The price point on this PlayStation Network downloadable game is also nice – for just $10 you can pick up the basic game and a couple of starter characters. Several characters are unlocked through achievements, but for the rest you’ll have to pay about a dollar a piece.

The Playstation Blog promises the long-awaited updates and new characters, environments, layouts, and game-play modes to be released over the next several weeks. If you’ve never played PAIN, now is the time to download it and have hours of your life ripped away. In a good way.

-The Raging Tech